The International Litigation and Arbitration Group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates (“Skadden”) brings a vast breadth of knowledge and experience to the resolution of international disputes, including claims of expropriation and other investor/state disputes.
Our lawyers have appeared before every major international arbitral institution, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), International Centre for Dispute Resolution/American Arbitration Association (ICDR/AAA), Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA) and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), as well as ad hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL and other rules.
We are experienced in managing international disputes involving more than one jurisdiction or dispute resolution forum and have litigated high-profile international cases before the trial and appellate courts of the United States and England. We have assisted counsel in many other jurisdictions when local cases required a sophisticated understanding of public and private international law, and we effectively have organized and presented large evidentiary records that are today the staple of complex commercial disputes. We have represented individuals and companies in industries as varied as power and energy, metals and mining, oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, auditing and securities. We also frequently advise clients in disputes against sovereigns for expropriation and unfair treatment under international agreements such as free trade agreements (FTAs), bilateral investment treaties (BITs), multilateral trade agreements (MTAs) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In addition, we have provided counsel on appropriate arbitration and forum selection clauses for project finance and energy transactions, joint ventures, technology transfers, corporate financings and other transactions in numerous jurisdictions, including Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, the Republic of Georgia, Russia, Sardinia, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tanzania, Trinidad, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Skadden was selected by The American Lawyer as a finalist in its 2014 Litigation Department of the Year issue. In 2013, Skadden was named “Law Firm of the Year: Dispute Resolution” by Chambers Global and “Dispute Resolution Team of the Year” by Legal Business for the second consecutive year, which recognized the firm for its landmark 2012 victory on behalf of Roman Abramovich in his $6 billion dispute with Boris Berezovsky, which was the largest case ever in the English Commercial Court and the largest private dispute in history. We ranked in the top tier for international arbitration, both commercial and governmental, by U.S. News — Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” 2014. We also were named by Global Arbitration Review 2013 as one of the Top 30 most active firms in international arbitration, and our London arbitration practice was ranked in the first tier for international arbitration by Chambers UK and in the UK edition of The Legal 500. The American Lawyer named Skadden among the top firms in its 2013 “Arbitration Scorecard,” and classified the AAR matter as the world’s largest arbitration award for the last decade. The publication also named one of our partners as its first “Global Lawyer of the Year.”The GAR Awards 2011 named Skadden the “large international arbitration practice that most impressed in 2011” in large part owing to its work on the Ron Fuchs v. Georgia case at ICSID. In addition, several of our partners have been featured in Global Arbitration Review’s International Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers for Commercial Arbitration, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in International Arbitration, Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business (international arbitration), The Best Lawyers in America and The International Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitrators and serve as arbitrators under the rules of the ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ICDR/AAA. Both the firm and individual Skadden partners are recognized leaders in international arbitration and often speak at international law conferences on the topic of investment arbitrations. Firm attorneys have made presentations at the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the ICC, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the LCIA, the ICDR/AAA, the Practising Law Institute (PLI), the International Bar Association (IBA) and at seminars for industry representatives and clients.
The members of our International Litigation and Arbitration Group can share with our clients a wealth of personal experience and a wide range of national backgrounds. Many of our attorneys are bilingual or have practiced litigation and arbitration in more than one country or legal system. All are familiar with the complexities of public and private international law that bear on arbitration and cross-border disputes. We can leverage the depth and international coverage of Skadden’s approximately 1,600 attorneys in 23 offices worldwide to offer clients an advantage in planning for and resolving international disputes.
